What are you going to be for Halloween?! Much like an astrological sign, a Halloween costume can reveal an awful lot about a person—so in the spirit of spooky season, step into Off the Shelf's office and we'll advise what book pairs best with your holiday attire.
Psst! Don't see your costume on the list? Try the Library's free BookMatch service to receive personalized book recommendations for your friends, your family and even your most fiendish foes!
VAMPIRE
Fledgling written by Octavia E. Butler
You thought I was going to say Dracula, right? While it is a classic, I’m not here to offer any old book rec. This Halloween, mix it up and check out Fledgling, in which an apparently young amnesiac awakens with only one thing on her mind: the desire to kill. Be prepared for a thought provoking and action-packed ride—this is a trailblazing vampire story unlike any others.
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Desire After Dark written by Andrew J. Owens
If you prefer nonfiction, Desire After Dark looks at "vampirism, witchcraft, and other manifestations of the supernatural in media [to confirm] how the queer has been integral to the evolution of the horror genre and its persistent popularity as both a subcultural and mainstream media form."
Check the CatalogWEREWOLF
Mongrels written by Stephen Graham Jones
A werewolf story with a very human perspective, Stephen Graham Jones’ Mongrels asks what it means to find your way in a world that wants you dead.
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Women Who Run with the Wolves written by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
For nonfiction, I suggest Women Who Run with the Wolves. Clarissa Pinkola Estés blends poetic language with psychology and folklore to create this absolute beast of a book. Those who enter shall not be disappointed!
Check the CatalogGHOST
Sheets written by Brenna Thummler
A ghost story set in the world's scariest place: middle school. The sweet illustrations will warm your heart on these cold autumn nights and you’ll fall in love with Wendell. Is he a ghost? Is he a bed sheet? Who knows. Hopefully you will after you read this book.
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House of Psychotic Women written by Kier-La Janisse
A memoir meets film criticism meets horror movie history meets dissection of female neurosis, this book has it all (yes, even pictures). Bonus: the author, Kier-La Janisse, founded a horror institute that hosts classes online and in person right here in NYC! If you finish this book and want more, check out The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies.
Check the CatalogHARLEY QUINN
Bitch Planet written by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Okay, yeah. I could recommend you the plethora of amazing Harley Quinn content that exists already. But wouldn’t you rather read something with a Harley Quinn vibe? Something that says Screw You while blowing the biggest bubble gum bubble you’ve ever seen? Bitch Planet is that book.
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Red Azalea written by Anchee Min
Need nonfiction? Here's a queer woman’s portrait of growing up during the Cultural Revolution in China; she doesn’t wield a baseball bat, but her words hit just as hard.
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This Is How You Lose the Time War written by Amal El-Mohtar
A novel about a war fought through Space, and more importantly, Time. But when the opposing agents start to realize they may have more in common than they think, the sides start to get a little blurry. How do you win a war where the enemy can just go back in time and change what you did...when your one step ahead is actually in the past? I can’t tell you because that would be a spoiler, so read this book to find out!
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James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon written by Julie Phillips
This is my nonfiction pick because as out of this world as Sheldon’s science fiction is, her real life was even more bizarre: she grew up in the lap of luxury during the early 20th century, went on to be a secret agent during WWII, started a chicken farm in Jersey, then went on to write some of the most seminal science fiction of the 1900s under a man’s name. You will not find a crazier biography than this.
Check the CatalogBATMAN
Keeping It Unreal written by Darieck Scott
Let’s switch it up and start with nonfiction for Batman. Keeping It Unreal is an exploration of, as the subtitle so aptly puts it, “Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics.” This book demonstrates how comics played an important role in imagining a radical future full of Black joy.
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The Ballad of Black Tom written by Victor LaValle
There's a storm brewing in Harlem that only one man can stop. Packed with paranoia, horror and no small amount of rage, Victor LaValle’s award-winning novella is a ballad you won’t want to stop singing.
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Simple Dreams written by Linda Ronstadt
Simple Dreams is an autobiography by a not-so-simple singer: Linda Ronstadt. Never heard of her? Queue up Desperado, Canciones de mi Padre, and When Will I Be Loved, then put her book on hold.
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The Anomaly written by Hervé Le Tellier
The Anomaly is about how the lives of passengers on a plane are disrupted (one of them is a pop star, hence the Elvis connection). It’s a blend of sci-fi, fantasy, crime and mystery, all tied up in a literary package.
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White Is for Witching written by Helen Oyeyemi
A young girl is plagued by an event from her family’s past, afflicted by a strange eating disorder and the death of her mother. I can’t tell you any more without ruining the story, but Helen Oyeyemi is a gift to anyone who can read, so get out your fork and knife and devour this feast of a book.
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Women Who Fly written by Serinity Young
Nonfiction rec: Do you gaze at the sky at night and wish you could see Women Who Fly? Same here. Alas, this book on "goddesses, witches, mystics, and other airborne females" will have to suffice.
Check the CatalogARIEL
Mermaid Moon written by Susann Cokal
Mermaid Moon blends moon magic, matriarchal mermaid societies, and of course a longing to travel on land (being a mermaid sounds way better, but whatever). Between fighting off blood thirsty roses and searching for her mother, this book is a wonderful potion of fairy tale elements for grownups.
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There's Something in the Water written by Ingrid Waldron
No, this isn't a book about lake monsters—instead, it’s about the environmental racism that plagues Black and Indigenous communities. There’s Something in the Water looks at how Canada and Nova Scotia have dismissed the intersectionality that must take place within the environmental justice movement for true change to happen.
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The Memory Police written by Yōko Ogawa
How about a fictional dystopia to distract you from our current one? The Memory Police takes place on an unnamed island where the names of things are deleted from people’s memory. It’s dark and it will make you hold your loved ones closer...because who knows how long you’ll remember them.
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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism written by Shoshana Zuboff
Right now, high-tech companies have all the power. Reclaim some for yourself by reading this exposé on digital propaganda and social engineering.
Check the CatalogPIRATE
Monstress written by Marjorie M. Liu
Monstress isn’t just about pirates, it’s about gods who look like animals and demons who look like giant oil spills with eyes and a war waged by witches to wipe out the existence of human hybrids. The illustrations are top tier and so is the storytelling. You better hope there’s not a long waiting list for this deeply enjoyable read.
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Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean written by Edward Kritzler
Everyone knows about Blackbeard, but have you heard of Pirate Rabbi Samuel Palache? What about Abraham Cohen Enriques and his brother Moses, who pulled off the largest pirate heist ever? Read this book to discover a piece of Jewish history that spans the high seas.
Check the CatalogDEVIL
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers is about how women have been portrayed in horror media, often to the detriment of women. This book is a mish mash of all things horror that explores why sometimes the greatest threat is not a monster in the closet, but a woman speaking her own mind.
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Good Omens written by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Good Omens gained fame through the TV show, but it remains an apocalypse classic for a reason. Filled with humor and thoughtfulness, fans of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman will not want to miss out on this one.
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My Cat Yugoslavia written by Pajtim Statovci
A love story featuring a talking cat and a boa constrictor. Need I say more?
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Reflections written by Diana Wynne Jones
Cats have been revered by throughout history, including by award-winning author Diana Wynne Jones, who always has at least one cat in her books. In Reflections, she muses on writing, childhood, and of course, cats!
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Things to Do When You're Goth in the Country written by Chavisa Woods
This premise might be tough for us city slickers to imagine, but if you’re trying to find your inner Wednesday, here's a short story collection for you!
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Queer Embodiment written by Hil Malatino
Anyone Other has always been villainized. Queer Embodiment shows the violence that intersex people face due to not fitting in the binary of sex. A mixture of scholarship, criticism, and memoir, it exposes the institutional failures that ravage intersex and trans experience.
Check the CatalogCOWBOY
Rapunzel's Revenge written by Shannon Hale
This is the graphic novel that introduced me to graphic novels. It has everything: giant trees, hair used as whips, some pretty sick horse riding, and magic bunnies. You really can’t go wrong!
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The Compton Cowboys written by Walter Thompson-Hernández
Expounding on the long history of Black cowboys in America, this nonfiction selection shows that being a cowboy isn’t just about winning rodeos (though there is some of that). It’s about family, healing, and most of all, freedom.
Check the CatalogNO COSTUME
So you think you’re too cool for a costume? Well, maybe you are! But maybe you are just distracted by tragedies, whether personal or global, that seem to plague our everyday. Maybe you’ve always wanted to be an octopus but couldn’t find the energy to make all eight legs. Maybe you just ran out of time. Whatever the reason, I hope you found at least some inspiration here.
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